Supporters of Britain's National Health Service hold a banner reading 'Go for it America our National Health Service is a blessing for all' outside the US Embassy in London, Aug. 19, 2009 (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

(Newser)
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Republicans have their knives out for Donald Berwick, President Obama's nominee to run Medicare and Medicaid. Berwick, a pediatrician and Harvard prof who runs a nonprofit aimed at cutting hospital errors, as well as costs, is a fan of Britain's single-payer health National Health Service, they note; he once declared it “one of the great health care endeavors on Earth.” He was even given honorary knighthood for helping improve the system. “He is bad news,” John Cornyn tells Politico. “If he wants to turn America into the National Health Service … he is going to find a lot of pushback.”

A White House spokesman called the opposition a dishonest “excuse to re-fight health care.” But that might not be a fight the GOP wants to have. According to a recent poll, while a majority of Americans still oppose the health care law, they don't want to repeal it. By a 55-42 margin, respondents said they'd rather give the law a chance, and fix it as needed than repeal it outright. Among independents, the numbers widen to 57-40, according to the AP.